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| | (1 recommendation so far) | Message 1 of 14 in Discussion |
| | From: mickey (Original Message) | Sent: 1/14/2007 11:15 PM |
I am new to this group. My boyfriend/common law husband of 20 years is on a Methadone clinic in Philadelphia. He has been on the clinic for about 12 years. He is on 80 mg of Methadone. He is not the ideal patient, his urines are always dirty with something. However for years they never said a thing about it. He is also on Xanax which I know you can not get off of right away. His clinic has now put him a IPO groups which is 3 times per week for 3 hours per day. The last time I went to him to the doctor they told him he needs a note from a phyiciatrist that he needs to be on Xanax or they are going to detox him. Is this legal? Also while I was standing outside of the clinic there were clients out there selling heroin and pills and when I told the director, she told me to mind my buisness that we are taking about Brian not what goes on outside. He was so so desperate to get off someone he knows took him to a suboxine doctor. The doctor gave him a script which we did not fill because I know he has to get lower on the methadone in order to take suboxine or he will get really sick. This guy was going to give him suboxan this weekend but I was afraid he would get so sick because of the methadone that I would not know what to do and that he could really die off it. I know I sound really crazy but I just want him to get a lower dose of methadone and get on the suboxan the right way. The clinic will not lower his dose but they will kick off and I want to know if this legal and what channels we would have to go through, the clinic is in Philadelphia, PA. Thanks for any input. Mickey |
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Mickey,,,  Welcome to the group!!!....... Im not an expert on methadone or clinics,,,I took a couple doses back in the early 70's and sold a few doses as well (outside the clinic)...I do know that in Pittsburgh or here in West Virginia that one can be booted out if one tests dirty...I believe the clinics are funded by the federal government so imagine the same rules/laws apply nationally....Ive been told that Xanax is a terrible withdrawal,,,I never used those type drugs,,,yet I deal with many hardcore addicts daily and they tell me these things... I wish you and yours all the best and Keep the Faith.....  FC |
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Hi, first: WELCOME to our group! At my clinic, in Detroit, if your urine is dirty for too many times, the insurance will drop you. If you're paying cash, I'm not sure what they do, but I do know this: they don't ignore it! If somebody is on anykind of meds, they have to bring in the script for it. Not sure about a note from the doctor, but for sure the legal script for it. There is a methadone site somewhere, I think there is a link to it on the left here.........there would be a ton of legal info you can check out for your city/state. Good luck for you and your bf. I hope everything works out. sue |
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| | | From: mickey | Sent: 1/16/2007 3:14 AM |
Thanks for your input. After discussing it today Bri called the suboxine doctor and told him he is on methadone. He said he is going to work with him to detox on the methadone then they will put him on the suboxine hopefully. The detox from the pills, we are hoping to decrease maybe 1/2 a pill every week, do not know any other way. Any other thoughts please let me know. Just trying to get our family back to normal. Thank god my teenage daughter is drug and alcohol free and is a good kid. I thank my stars everyday. I know it is because she has seen her father screwed up for years. God bless everyone and thanks for the imput and I would love to hear more |
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Hi Mickey, Welcome to H of H. I had heard that a person has to be down to 30mg on there Methadone before a doc will even discuss suboxen with them. I also Know that you have to be in withdrawl before the suboxen can be taken or else it can be awful. The receptors in the brain have to be clear enough for the suboxen to attach too. I have heard alot of Miracles from people who have gone from methadone to Suboxen. I wish your whole family luck, Much Love Karen |
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| | | From: mickey | Sent: 1/18/2007 2:25 AM |
Thanks for the support. Bri has called the suboxen doctor and told him the truth and he said he would work with him. So he is seeing the doctor at the methadone clinic tommorrow to see if he can start a detox. He is on 80 mg. Hopefully he will be strong and this will work out. Because the clinics in Philadelphia are a joke. I mean they sell drugs right in front of the clinic. I will keep posted. I dont get on as ofter as I like on the computer cause I am always working. Everyone stay warm. It is cold here in Philly. Mickey |
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I hear you about selling drugs in front of the door at the methadone clinic............... There is a couple clinics here (Detroit) that do that too. My clinic doesn't (anyway, I've never seen it) but I used to go to another one and it's horrible. And one time I had to go to another one because mine was closed, and that one was horrible too. At least 3 people came up to me to ask me if I wanted to sell my methadone or buy other drugs. I just said no thanx, and walked on by. Once this girl asked me if I wanted to sell my pee! I guess she need to do a urine test and her's was dirty. jeez. Maybe I should start selling my pee on ebay. |
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| | | From: mickey | Sent: 1/19/2007 2:17 AM |
hey suz if I could sell my urine I would make a fortune. I could probalby pay off my house!!! |
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Hey Mickey, Yea, me and you should go into the pee business. I'll write up the plan okay? lol. Everytime I start a post to you with "hey Mickey" that song gets in my mind all day: Hey Mickey, your so fine Your so fine, you blow my mind HEY MICKEY HEY MICKEY! lol!!! (sorry), sue |
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Hi, I believe that if a patient request that the clinic start lowering their dose, the clinic has to oblige...as far as the Xanax...if you do not have a prescription for it...ummm I think they can kick you off the program..you have to have a prescription for anything that shows up in your urine tests...here in Calif. they don't urine test for pot at the clinics...but I am pretty sure they test for everything else....(opiate related). I think too you have to be down to 35mls or less of methadone in order to switch to suboxone. Claude our resident methadone expert will probably weigh in on this issue when he checks in... Take care, MOMCODA |
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Mickey Here is a website that deals with rules and regulations regarding methadone. They also have a message board that's really cool. You can also file a report about this clinic your hubby is on and they will look into it. It's called Addiction Treatment Watchdog As far as the Xanax goes some clinic's allow any medication as long as the patient registers the medication monthly. That means they bring in their prescription bottle with the meds in it and the dosing nurse writes down the amount of pills the patient has and the dose and how long the script is good for. That way when they get drug tested and the medication shows up they won't get into trouble for it being dirty because it won't be counted as a dirty since the prescription is registered with the clinic. It's easy to do and there is no reason not to do it if you are getting the Xanax legally and not on the street. No wonder he wants of methadone, he is still using so he's not eligable for takehome doses since he's dropping dirty urine tests. It would suck to have to travel daily to dose at a methadone clinic for what 12 years??? Personally I don't advise anyone that cannot stop using to get off methadone because methadone is about harm reduction. When they are on methadone and if they are still using they have a problem still. Either they aren't on a high enough dose to stop the withdrawals and reduce the cravings or else they have other issues and continuing to use for those reasons. Many substitute coke for heroin. Since they are no longer able to feel heroin due to the methadone they start smoking crack or shooting coke. Anyways, if a person is still using the last thing they need is to get off methadone because they will just go back to being strung out on heroin full time. To think that they won't is being naive. Buprenorphine is a good medication but it's not been too successful helping hard core long term addicts with big habits. It's been successful helping younger addicts, addicts that haven't been using very long, addicts that don't have large habits, addicts that aren't on methadone. I don't care what anyone says, the transition from methadone to buprenorphine would be brutal to say the least unless the doctor is aware of what they are dealing with any starts the patient on the buprenorphine without the blocker in it. I have a friend that is involved in the courts right now and she is getting kicked of her clinic for using and asked the court if she could try buprenorphine and they said no because they don't think she'll be successful since she's been using for years and is considered to be a hardcore addict. She's 26 and has been an addict since she was 15. She's involved in drug court and these people deal with heroin addicts on a daily basis and I feel they know what they're talking about. They have seen hardcore addicts fail on buprenorphine more often than they've seen them be successful. Why not just get honest with the clinic and turn in his prescription every month or is he scared the clinic will contact his doctor and let them know he's on methadone? That's usually why people don't turn in their scripts, they don't want to get cut off by the doctor for being on methadone. For me it was easier to stop using and get on a stable dose of methadone and get takehome doses then to try detoxing off or doing the bup thing. Methadone is the only thing that works for me. If I'm not on it I use heroin. It's just that simple. I was one of those people that still continued to use Xanax, crack, and heroin and as a result I had to dose daily at the clinic because I always had dirty drug screen's and could never get any clean ua's. All that changed when I got pregnant and had my son. I'm so happy to be clean. I knew I could do it. I just needed some motivation and what better motivation than a baby to get it together. I'm in school and I'm doing really well thanks to methadone and my willingness to give all drugs up, prescription and street. Tk |
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| | | From: Indigo | Sent: 1/27/2007 4:28 PM |
Mickey -- I don't mean to upset you but IMO your bf is not ready for suboxine yet----He really should raise his methadone dose considerably & see how that works for him--If he's still using after 12 years on methadone then either he needs a higher dose or he just isn't ready to stop using yet.. As far as I know suboxine is for people who've done well on methadone but want to get off of it or for junkies who aren't longterm or hardcore users--Please consider getting a 2nd opinion as to the suitability of your bf switching to suboxine given his history on methadone.. If your bf decides to take the suboxine then make sure he reduces his methadone dose considerably before starting the suboxine Good Luck in whatever route you decide to take & remember that there are always exceptions to everything. |
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It sounds too me that you need to ask your boyfriend what measures he is willing to take to work a program that his counselor recommends and to first get off the other stuff before he even contemplates going down on his methadone.I have stayed clean for five years on methadone and I have been going through interferon treatment for Hepatitis C and I haven't had to use it as an excuse to use when I wanted to.I heard it over and over again about what lengths am I willing to go to get and stay clean?Thank my desire and honesty with myself to stay clean.Mike H.(HENDO) |
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| Hi Micky my name is Tennille and i use to come to this group alot a few years ago and love it. Everyone here can really help with alot of issues. But i just join back and i was reading your message cause methadone to me is a wonderful thing. I have been on methadone for almost five years in june that is and i will be clean of all opiates in oct. for five years also. It has been a life saver for me and my husband who is also in the program. About being on other meds well as long as he reports them on a monthly basics then there is nothing they can do unless his regular health doc. does'nt know about the methadone then they will think something cause reguardless we all should be able to tell our MD everything like we are in a methadone program without them thinking bad or taking away our other meds. cause they do not like to give methadone clients xanax because of black outs. I think it's bull shit but there really are other drugs no habit forming out there that work just as good as xanax cause i have real bad anxiety and use to be on xanax as well untill my doc who is a recovering opiate user himself has help find something just as good that really works and let me tell you sometimes we really need to be very patient cause it could take a few different meds before we find something that works for us. If he is still using maybe he should raise his dose??? Let me tell you what my dose is175mgs daily. I split that into twice a day but i also only go to the clinic once a week and as soon as i have my five years i will only be going twice a month cause they say you need five years before you can get twice a month which is bull shit. Each and every clinic has there own rules which yes i wrong and if you get into a big clinic well some times its hard to get three times a week cause i just switch clinic a year ago and after four years of all clean U.As i was only on three time a week and then i got into the clinic i am in now and they could not believe it but that just gose to show the difference from 1000 client to 30 clients which that is what our cap is so they can run a sucessful program which right now we have the cleanest U.As out of all the other clients around this area. I also want to say that it can not be to harmful cause they say it is safer to have a methadone baby rather than a herion baby and i have living proof of that three times.. I just had my third baby on methadone in nov 06. He was born with no methadone in his system which i have seen it both ways and the ammount of methadone you take cause this last baby was born on 170mgs and the one before him was born on 65mgs and the first baby which my dose with her was only45mgs and she was positive and she need to be on a medication for three weeks. LOL tennille | | | |
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